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Dive Brief:

The Energy Storage Association and 52 private companies have sent a letter to the leadership of Congress urging them to include energy storage in any discussion of rebuilding America’s infrastructure.

The letter says that despite the prospects for rapid growth for storage, the technology still faces hurdles that Congress and the administration could address to speed adoption, such as reducing interconnection and permitting barriers.

The letter references a report recently circulate by the National Governors Association that calls for states to include energy storage in their planning process and to streamline siting, approval and interconnection processes.

Dive Insight:

Leaked in January, a preliminary infrastructure wish list compiled for President Donald Trump's transition team included several items in the energy industry, including hydropower projects, transmission projects and energy storage and grid modernization project in California.

The ESA letter urges lawmakers and other policy stakeholders to consider that energy storage is critical “to ensuring a resilient, reliable, cost- effective, and sustainable grid.”

The letter, which in addition to the ESA was signed by 52 private sector companies, including Johnson Controls, Lockheed Martin, AES Energy Storage, LG Chem, Panasonic, Parker Hannifin, and Siemens, says that appropriate public policies could help guarantee that the U.S. storage industry could continue to grow.

The letter cites GTM Research estimates that the U.S. energy storage market will grow 10-fold over the next several years, from just over 200 MW in 201 6 to over 2,000 MW by 2021.